Humidifier



Dec. l2, 1939- J. G. zuMMAcH HUMIDIFIER 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed June 16,1958 Dec. 12, 1939. J. G. zUMMAcH HUMIDIFIER 5 sheets-smet 2 Filed June16', 1938 INVENT OR. da/,v ,Za/mma ATTORNEY.

Dec. l2, 1939. J. G. zUMMAcH HUMIDIFIER Filed June 1e, 1938 3sheets-sheet 3 INVENTOR. dwf/1f Zan/mm? BY ATTORNEY.

Patented. Dec. 12, 1939 UNTED STATES 1e-Aram artica HUMIDIFIER.

John G. Zummach,-Racine, Wis.

Application June 16, 1938, Serial No. 2145109 9 Claims.

'I'nis invention relates to humidiers.

Objects of this invention are to provide a novel form of humidifierwhich is so made that electrical heating means heats only a smallportion of the water at a time, and in which this small portion ofheated water is thermally insulated from the body of the water or mainsupply so that only a small amount of heat is required, the main body ofthe water remaining cool until it is supplied to the boiler or heatingportion of the device.

Further objects are to provide a humidifier which is noiseless in itsoperation, which has no fan or similar member for causing circulation ofthe air, which instead causes the circulation of the air by the risingoi the warm air and water vapor through a chimney like structure,discharging the moistureeladen air into the room from the upper portionof t -e device, preferably through the top.

In greater detail, further objects of this invention are to provide ahumidier in which a stack is employed passing centrally through a waterreservoir located in the upper portion ci the humidifier cabinet, thestack however being spaced from the inner wall of the reservoir toprevent cooling of the stack by the water of the reservoir and thus tominimize condensing, means being provided, however, for catching anycorr densation that may occur in the stack and preventing thecondensation from running along the bottom of the reservoir and insteadreturning the condensation directly to the boiler or boilers. By havingrthe stack pass through the reservoir though spaced from the inner wallthereof, a very compact construction is obtained and bulkiness is thusavoided.

Further objects are to provide a construction in which an ornamentalcabinet with a removable back, for example, may be employed, in whichthe several parts are arranged in two main units-one, the reservoir unitincluding the stack, and the other, the bottom pan or bottom unit-bothof the units being freely slidably removable from the cabinet when theback is removed and giving free and easy access to all of the parts forrepair or inspection.

Further objects are to provide a humidier in which an elevated reservoiris provided, in which a oat tank is connected through a iioat controlvalve with the reservoir, in which electrical heating means is providedin a separate boiler or boil-- ers fed from the iloat tank, and in whichsafety cut oi means are provided which cuts off the heating unit orheating units in the event the water level within the boiler or boilersfalls below a predetermined point, to thus prevent burning out orexcessive heating of the heating units.

Further objects are to provide a humidiner having the above notedcharacteristics in which switching means is employed for throwing in oneor more boilers and heating units, in which the safety-controlmeans-controls whatever number `of heating units may be in service, andin which a simple change-over switch is employed for throwing in one ormore ci the heating units or for cutting out all heating units when theoperation ofthe humidiiier is not required.

A further obj ect is to provide a humidier which will operate on eitheralternating or direct current.

Further objects are to provide a humidifier which has a very attractiveappearance, which is composed of a relatively small number of easilyaccessible removable parts, and which may be economically constructed.

An embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view thro-ugh the device, such viewcorresponding to a section on the line I-I of Figure 2.

Figure 2 is a rear view of'the device with the back panel removed andwith parts broken away and in section.

Figure 3 is a sectional view approximately on` the line 3--3 of Figure 2with parts broken away.

Figure 4 is a sectional view on the line 4 4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a sectional view on the line 5-5 of Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic View of the wiring.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the humidifier comprisesa cabinet which has frontand side walls l, a bottom 2 and a top 3. Thiscabinet vis preferably made ornamental and may be made of wood or anyother suitable material. It is provided with a removable back panel 4which is temporarily held in place in any suitable manner, as by meansof 'the screws E5, see Figure 3, which pass through the back panel andinto the ends of the guides 6 which extend from adjacent the rear of thepanel to adjacent the front thereof and constitute supporting means.

A reservoir` 'i for the water is provided and approximately nts theupper half of the cabinet. It is a rectangular box like structure ofmetal and is slidably carried on the slides cr supporting members 5,such members t) securely holding the reservoir against lateral shifting,as is apparent from an examination of Figure 2.

The reservoir 1 may be supplied through a chute or hopper 8 which mayproject upwardly and outwardly through an aperture in the back panel sothat the reservoir may be readily lled. It is preferable to provide a newire mesh screen 8 to prevent foreign material passing into thereservoir 1.

The reservoir is provided with a central tube 9 which extends completelythrough the reservoir and is securely soldered or otherwise secured tothe top and bottom walls of the reservoir. An inner tube or stack Ill iscarried in spaced relation within the tube 9 so that an air space isformed between these two tubes. The tube IIJ may have outwardly pressedindentations- II at its upper and lower portions which may be solderedto the tube 9 to thus hold the tube I0 permanently spaced from the tube9 and to prevent the cold water in the reservoir 1 from chilling thetube I0 and causing needless condensation therein.

The top 3 of the cabinet is provided with a centrally located opening I2through which a slightly flaring funnel like end portion I3 is freelypassed. The portion I3 may have different forms, but a convenient way isto provide it with an upper ilange I4 which is adapted to rest upon thetop 3 of the cabinet and with a shouldered portion I5 to correctlyposition it within the aperture I2. The lower portion of the member I3is provided with a short tubular sleeve I6 which slidably fits withinthe tube I and in effect constitutes a continuation thereof. Anornamental grating I1 may be positioned within the shouldered portion Ito allow the free passage therethrough of air and moisture.

The lower portion of the cabinet carries the boilers or vaporizers andone or more of these units may be employed. In the form shown two ofsuch units are used. They may be employed singly or jointly, dependingon how much evapori- Zation is required, and a suitable switch forchanging it from single to double operation may be employed, as willappear hereinafter.

Each unit comprises a cylindrical container I8 which may be surroundedwith asbestos I8' for the major part of its side walls, and each of thecontainers for the boilers has its bottom resting upon a channel shapedsupport I9 having outturned feet 2i) and 2| which rest upon the bottom22 of a box or pan like member indicated generally at 23. Each boiler isprovided with an electrical heating unit 24 whose outlet portion passesthrough an aperture formed in the support I9 and in the bottom wall ofthe boiler. A sealing gasket 25 is positioned beneath each heating unitand screws 26 pass upwardly through the supporting base I9 and hold theheating units in place.

An oval-shaped, funnel like hood 21 fits over both of the boilers andhas a downwardly extending marginal flange 28 and rests upon a portionof the top margin of each of the boilers. This hood converges towards acentrally located upper opening 29 slightly smaller than and locatedimmediately below the bottom of the stack or inner tube IIJ, see Figurel, so as to guide the water vapor from the boilers upwardly into thestack.

At this point it is toI be noted that the back panel is provided with aplurality of openings 30 so that air may freely enter and circulatearound the boilers upwardly through the hood 21 and into the stack Illas the boilers will be hot and will heat the air and cause a fairlyrapid circulation of air and a draft upwardly through the pipe I0, thussweeping the entrained water vapor along with the air and causing acontinuous discharge of moisture-laden air from the device outwardlythrough the grating I1.

Any condensation that may occur on the tube IU'will iinally drip fromthe bottom edge of the tube, as it is spaced from the tube 9, and willnot run across the bottom of the reservoir 1 but will fall on the outersurface of the hood 21. This hood is provided with a marginal channel 3|which extends completely around the bottom of the hood and this channelis provided with a plurality of discharge openings 32 over each of theboilers so that any water that may drip back onto the hood, will beguided into position over the boilers and returned to the boilers, thuskeeping the device dry.

A float chamber orcontainer 33 is carried within the pan 23 and mayconsist of a rectangular box having an open portion 3d. through its topwall and having its bottom wall 33' spaced from the bottom 22 of the pan23. Preferably a spacing strip 35, see Figure 2, is located between theouter bottom edge of the oat chamber or box 33 and the bottom wall 22 ofthe pan 23.

The right-hand end of the pan 23, see Figures 1 and 3, is omitted andthe float chamber has its front and rear walls soldered or otherwisesecured to the pan 23. Also the spacing strip, the iioat chamber 33, andthe bottom wall 22 are soldered together. The foot 20 of the support I9for the boilers is slipped beneath the left-hand bottom edge of thefloat chamber 33 and the other foot 2| is `secured by a finger or anyother suitable means 36 removably held in place by a thumb nut 31 sothat the thumb nut and nger may be removed and the boiler slipped to theleft, as viewed in Figure 2, to withdraw the foot 2U from beneath thefloat tank 33. Thereafter the boiler may be removed from the pan 23 :forrepair or inspection.

The float chamber 33 is supplied with water from the reservoir 1 bymeans of a small copper pipe 38 which passes through and is rmly joinedto the bottom wall of the reservoir 1. The lower end of the copper pipeis joined to the valve structure 39 of the oat valve by means of aremovable union 4I! so that when it is desired to separate these parts,it is merely necessary to unscrew the union and spring the pipe 38slightly upwardly, see Figure 2, thus completely detaching the loatchamber from the reservoir. Thereafter both the reservoir and the bottompan with the heaters and iioat chamber may be slid rearwardly from thecabinet for inspection or repair, thus giving the utmost freedom ofaccess to the parts in a very simple and eiiicacious manner.

The float valve structure 39 may be provided with a pair of ears illwhich are secured by screws 42 to a top plate i3 resting upon the top ofthe float chamber 33 and positioned over the cut-out 34 of such floatchamber. This top plate may be removably held in place by screws or inany other suitable manner es indicated at 44 in 1Figure 3.

A oat 45 controls the level of the water in the float chamber andpreferably holds such level at about the point indicated by the dottedline. The float is connected with en l.--shaped arm 46 pivotallysupported from the valve structure and controlling such valve and alsohaving an upwardly extending arm which bears against the anguW larly setarm d1 of a small metal plate 48. The plate 48 is pivotally mounted asindicated at i9 and an upper step in the form of an overhanging finger53 is provided which limits the upward motion` of the plate. Thispivoted plate is provided with spring iingers 5l which hold the mercuryswitch 52, the mercury switch 52 being connected by flexible conductors53 with terminal posts 54. Conductors 55 and 56 extend from one of theposts and lead to the two heating units 24, see Figure 6. A conductor 51extends from the other terminal post to one of the prongs 58, seeFigures 6 and 2. The other prong 59 extends to a double pole switchwhose arms 60 are adapted to be controlled by the lever 6 I, see Figure2, in the usual manner.

In one position of the switch, the arms 60 engage the contacts G2 andconnect the two heating units 24 in parallel. In the other position, oneof the arms 60 engages the contact 63v and connects only one heater inthe circuit. The mercury switch, however, retains control of the heatersirrespective of whether one or both heaters are employed. The mercuryswitch cuts off the current to the heater when the water falls to adangerously low level within the iioat chamber 33, it being noted thatthe float chamber 33 is connected adjacent its lower portion with thelower portion of the two boilers by means of the pipes Sdi. Preferablythe pipes 64 are joined to the float chamber 33 by means of removableunions 65 so that the boilers may be freely detached from the floatchamber when desired.

The cabinet may be provided with outwardly projecting ornamentalportions 56, see Figure 2, which may constitute handles whereby thecabinet may be lifted or moved from place to place.

It is preferable to provide a drain S1 in the lower portion of the floatchamber, such drain projecting through an aperture in the back panel 4so that when the device is not to be used for a material length of time,the water may be drained from the oat chamber and consequently thedevice may be drained as the float chamber communicates with thereservoir and with the boilers.

It is preferable to support the plug and switch combined unit directlyfrom the pan 2.3, see Figures 2 and 3, so that there is no need forinterrupting the wiring when the pan 23 with its co-ntained parts isremoved for inspection or repair.

It is also to b-e noted that if the humidifier is not needed, the switch63 may occupy its neutral position, as shown in Figure 6, and thateither one or both heaters may be employed by suitably manipulating theswitch 6 l.

There is no need for a fan or other air circulating means in this deviceas the rising hot air entrains the vapor and sweeps it upwardly throughthe stack l!) and outwardly from the device.

It is to be particularly noted that the stack is thermally separated offfrom the adjacent wall of the reservoir and that therefore there issubstantially no cooling effect on the stack from the unheated water inthe reservoir.

The humidier is so constructed that only a very small body of water ismaintained in the heated condition by the heater or heaters, and if thelevel of the water` in the iioat tank, which is the same as the level inthe boiler or boilers, falls below the upper portion of the heaters, themercury switch is operated from the float and cuts ofi the electricalcurrent to the heaters, thus furnishing an auto-matic safety device toprevent burning out of the heaters in the event there is no furthersupply of water.

Further than this it is apparent that the utmost accessibility of theparts is obtained, that the parts are simple, easy to construct, andcheap to manufacture.

Although this invention has been described in considerable detail, it isto be understood that such description is intended as illustrativerather than limiting, as the invention may be variously embodied and isto be interpreted as claimed.

I claim:

1. A humidier comprising a cabinet having a discharge opening at itsupper portion, a reservoir in the upper part of the cabinet, a boiler inthe lower portion of the cabinet, said boiler comprising a tank likemember and a heater therein, means for supplying water from thereservoir to the boiler, automatic means for maintaining a predeterminedwater level in the boiler, a stack passing upwardly from adjacent saidboiler and adapted to entrain heated air and water vapor, said stackleading to said discharge opening and 'being open at its top and bottomfor the free prising a. tank like member and a heater therein,

means for supplying water from the reservoir to the boiler, automaticmeans for maintaining a predetermined water level in the boiler, a stackpassing upwardly from adjacent said boiler and adapted to entrain heatedair and water vapor,

said stack leading to said discharge opening, said stack passing throughsaid reservoir and being thermally separated therefrom, whereby risingair through said stack will entrain water vaporized by said boiler anddischarge the moistureladen heated air from the upper portion of saidcabinet.

3. A humidifier comprising a cabinet, a reservoir located in the upperportion of said cabinet and constituting an upper unit, a lower unitlocated in the lower portion of said cabinet below said reservoir, saidlower unit having a boiler and means for supplying water from saidreservoir to said boi-ler, and a stack leading upwardly from adjacentsaid lower unit and adapted to discharge heated air and water vapor fromthe upper portion of said cabinet, said stack being open at its top andbottom for the free upward passage therethrough of heated air and watervapor, said reservoir and said lower unit being independently removablefrom said cabinet.

4. A humidifier comprising a cabinet having a discharge opening in itsupper portion, a reservoir for water located in the upper portion ofsaid cabinet, a boiler located in the lower portion of said cabinet andsupplied with water from said reservoir, heating means for said boilerfor vaporizing water in said boiler, a stack leading to said dischargeopening of said cabinet and spaced from said boiler and adapted toconduct heated air upwardly to said discharge opening of said cabinet,said stack being open at its top and bottom for the free upward passagetherethrough of heated air and water vapor, and means for guiding watervapor from said boiler to a point adjacent the lower end of said stack,whereby Water vapor will be entrained by the rising hot air anddischarged from the said discharge opening.

5. A humidifier comprising a cabinet having a discharge opening in itsupper portion, a reservoir for water located in the upper portion ofsaid cabinet, a boiler located in the lower portion of said cabinet andsupplied with water from said reservoir, heating means for said boilerfor vaporizing water in said boiler, a stack leading to said dischargeopening of said cabinet and spaced from said boiler and adapted toconduct heated air upwardly to said discharge opening of said cabinet,said stack being open at its top and bottom for the free upward passagetherethroughv of heated air and water vapor, and means for guiding watervapor from said boiler to a point adjacent' the lower end of said stack,whereby water vapor will be entrained by the rising hot air anddischarged from the said discharge opening, said humidier having meansfor receiving any water that may drip from said stack and fordischarging such received water back into said boiler.

6. A humidier comprising a cabinet having a discharge opening in itsupper portion, a reservoir for water located in the upper part of saidcabinetand having a pipe passing therethrough from the lower to theupper portion of said reservoir, a stack positioned within said pipe andspaced from said pipe and leading to said discharge opening, said stackhaving an open lower end, a boiler located below said reservoir, meansfor supplying water from said reservoir to said boiler, said boilerhaving a heating unit therein, and means spaced from the lower portionof said stack for conducting Water vapor from said boiler to a point inthe immediate vicinity of the lower portion oi said stack, whereby thewater vapor will be entrained by rising hot air passing upwardly throughsaid stack.

7. A humidifier comprising a cabinet having a discharge opening in itsupper portion, a reservoir for water located in the upper part of saidcabi net and having a pipe passing therethrough from the lower to theupper portion of said reservoir, a stack positioned within said pipe andspaced from said pipe and leading to said discharge opening, said stackhaving an open lower end, a boiler located below said reservoir, meansfor supplying water from said reservoir to said boiler, said boilerhaving a heating unit therein, a hood positioned over the top of saidboiler and converging to a point adjacent said stack, said hood havingan opening immediately below the bottom of said stack, said hood havinga channel portion for collecting any water that may drip from said stackand for leading said water back to said boiler.

8. A humidifier comprising a cabinet, la reser- Voir for water locatedin the upper portion of said cabinet, guide means for slidablysupporting said reservoir, a lower unit located in the bottom portion ofsaid cabinet below said reservoir, said lower unit including a floatchamber supplied with water from said reservoir, a iioat, a valvecontrolled thereby for controlling the height of the water level in saidfloat chamber, a detachable pipe connection between said reservoir andsaid oat chamber, said lower unit having boiler means communicating withsaid float chamber and said boiler means having a water vapor dischargeopening, said lower unit and said reservoir being bodily slidable fromthe rear of said cabinet, said cabinet having a removable rear portionto permit the outward sliding of said lower unit and reservoir andhaving openings for the admission of air to a point adjacent said boilermeans, and a stack for conducting heated air from adjacent said boilermeans, said stack hav-f ing a lower portion opening in proximity to thepoint of discharge of the water vapor from said boiler means forentraining water vapor from said boiler means.

9. A humidier comprising a cabinet, a watery reservoir located in theupper portion oi said cabinet and having a pipe extending through thereservoir from the lower portion of the upper portion, said cabinethaving a discharge opening located above said pipe, a stack leading tosaid discharge opening and passing through said pipe and spaced fromsaid pipe, a lower unit removably positioned in the lower portion ofsaid cabinet and including a boiler having a hood spaced from the lowerend of said stack and provided with a discharge opening adjacent thelower end of said stack, said boiler being supplied with water from saidreservoir, automatic means for maintaining a predetermined water levelin said boiler, said cabinet having air inlet openings for admitting airto adjacent said boiler, an electric heater within said boiler, electricterminal means carried by said lower unit and connected to said electricheater, and a switch carried by said lower unit and controlling saidelectric heater, said boiler being detachable from said lower unit.

JOHN G. ZUMMACH.

